EP Performed in Pepsi Battle of the Bands’ Grand Finale and We Can’t Get Over It!

Last night Pepsi put up one of the greatest shows in the history of Pakistani television as Battle of the Bands reached its finale. It was a star studded night where we saw the likes of Ali Azmat, Aaroh, Meesha Shafi, Atif Aslam, Shahi Hassan and Josh giving crackerjack performances back to back.

However, the reunion of Entity Paradigm (EP) was the most memorable moment of the evening and the gentlemen completely stole the show with their phenomenal performance of Hamesha, a song that has been an integral place in Pakistan’s Rock Hall of Fame!

To be very honest, when I saw the poster of EP’s comeback on Pepsi Pakistan’s page a day before the finale, I was not expecting much owing to the previous disappointing return of the band with the cover of Bolo Bolo on Coke Studio. But boy oh boy was I wrong!

They managed to capture the audience’s attention from the word go. We saw Xulfi and Ahmed Ali Butt creating an aura that lasted longer than their performance, with one thumping the guitar strings in a very slick manner and the other pointing to the sky like he knows they will undoubtedly own it.

The song then gradually ascended and took us swiftly to THE MOMENT of the season, the glorious point where all six of them broke into their signature HEADBANGING. Seeing this, I suddenly found myself gasping and sighing, “This is it! This is what we have been missing for fifteen freaking years!”

As the song continued, I did not realize that all this time I was singing at the top of my lungs, “Main Rahoonga.” Soon after, came one of my favorite parts, Ahmed’s heartfelt and introspective rapping which brought back my childhood memory where we would write down EP’s lyrics so that we can rap with equal fluency. As a matter of fact, it was actually because of Ahmed Ali Butt that I accepted the inclusion of rapping in Pakistani pop music.

Before we knew it, we had come to the climax of these 7 minutes of sheer nostalgia and ecstasy. Throughout the song I could feel my heart pounding in both excitement and awe. Seeing EP perform last night was an experience that we will remember for a long, long time.